Hi all. This is another problem I'm having with a 2000 CRV with the non-vtech B20Z2 motor that I'm trying to fix. I can't time the motor. No matter where I position the distributor, I cant get the crank pulley timing marks to align. I beleive 16° ± 2° BTDC is the correct timing. My scanner shows I can't any closer than 10-12°. Both camshaft pulleys are aligned properly (tic marks at 90 & 270, and even with the head surface, "up" is up), and the crank/block marks are lined up. Could it be the dist. camshaft is off a tooth on the timing belt? If so which direction is it off? Or is there something else I'm missing?

 

Is the engine warm? Do you have the 2 pin service connector jumped? Google if not.

 

Try another timing light. Yours may be defective as well.

 

Hmm, As someone with alot of B20 non vtec experience, Ill chime in.

Take the plugs out. Insert a long screwdriver into the #1 plug hole.Turn the CRANK until the screwdriver it at the top of the stroke. Now look at the pulley.

It should show the TDC mark lined up with the plastic timing cover/ timing marker.

As for the cams, The arrow on the cam gear should point up. Use a nail to insert in the holes (directly behind the cam seal) into the cams themselves, as this will lock them in TDC.

Once the belt is in place, you will need to retension the pulley. Turn the crankshaft counterclockwise three teeth and then tighten the tensioner pulley.

The distrib only goes on one way. Make sure your firing order is correct. and it should be good to go!


Also making sure your valve lash is correct plays an important role as well.

 

Good stuff here folks. A sincere thank you. I forgot about the jumper. Timing light is very old - from back in the day of points and carburetors LOL - but the scanner is modern. One of the first things I did when i bought it was the valve lash since it was so noisy - the adjusment made it what I call "sewing machine quiet." Back to the garage with these suggestions this weekend.

 

Then keep your distrib setting in the middle

 

Ok, I slaved in the garage all weekend and still no luck. Triple checked the TB alignments. The crank gear lined up with the mark on oil pump housing. Cam sprokets lined up properly with both the crank gear mark, and with the harmonic balancer mark lined up with mark on TB cover. Cylinder at TDC (rod in spak plug hole) and all marks aligned. Did the 3 teeth and retensioned/torqued tensioner. Firing order correct. Jumped the service connector. With a cold engine timing is around 16°, but the warmer the engine gets the farther it drifts away to around 9 or 10° and starts to misfire. Could an electronic component of the distributor be bad?

 

Interesting phenomenon

Try to move the distrib when it warms up. See if that makes a difference.

 

Head or block ever been re-surfaced?
How old is the timing belt? (old and stretched perhaps)

Using the scanner to set timing may not be the best way, since (I assume) the scanner gets its "timing signal" from the cam/crank sensors inside the distributor, which may be getting corrected by the ecu...Before I'd trust the scanners actual timing value, I'd verify it with a timing light that taps onto the plug wire...

That's all I can think of atm..

Which cylinders start to misfire when it gets warmed up?

 

^^
My thinking is if it the timing is retarded a little it might smooth everything out.

With the comression of the b20 it shoukd be fine as the timing moves to the normal oper temp. But I figure if its retarded a little might smooth it out.

 

Think maybe injectors are clogged and not supplying enough fuel?

 

Background: bought this CRV cheap cause it needed a bunch of small fixes, but appeared to be worth my labor. 137,700 on the odo, compression check was ok. valves were quiet, driveabilty was good.

I got all the work done and put about 300 miles on it when it sprang a sizable oil leak that I thought I traced to the exhaust camshaft seal (oil was running down that corner of head & I saw a small nick in seal). So I tore down the front, replacing both seals, and did the TB, water pump, tensioner while there. However, once I got into it I found small bits of TB ribs in the plastic covers. Crap, right? I Did all above mentioned work and the oil leak is no better.

Now I think it is coming from the head gasket, front TB side corner. Now I'm wondering how much work was done to the head, and what quality of work was done? The seller was a middle man that was flipping cars and was about as dishonest as they come. I haven't been able to run it to see if the oil/coolent is mixing. I guessing that a bad head gasket could effect timing? And I don't have any idea if there is any warpage.

At this point I think I'm going to have to remove the head and do some checks to find out if it is good or needs replacing.

 

Honestly, you would be time and money ahead by just getting a complete JDM B20 from an importer.

 

what ecu

 

Good news is the head gasket is not leaking. The oil pools on that spot I was talking about (block slightly larger than head so it makes a "shelf" & you can see the gasket protruding out). The oil is coming from the weep hole (see pic). It's gotta be the cam seals. Taking this to a new thread. Once I get this fixed it's back to the timing question. Haven't checked on the ECU yet.



Large amount of oil leaking from the area circled. Replaced cam seals and it's still hemorraging.

 

I dont see anything inside that circle.. thats solid aluminum.

 

yeah, hope its not a crack or something...

If your still having trouble finding the source of the leak, leak trace powder is nice.
Castle Leak Tracing Powder

Any brand works though...

Makes leaks very easy to find. Clean the aluminum really well though, as the porosity likes to absorb a little oil...

 

Pulled off the #1 intake cam cap and it's scored badly (see pic). The cam must be wobbling and hence why the seals don't seal
Time to find a genlty used head or a reasonably priced remanufactured one.

 

Damn!!

 

 

Can't see your location since I'm using my phone, but if your close to the Atlanta area, I have 2 LS heads you can have. There just taking up space in my garage. Lmk!

 

looks like someone didn't install the cam caps correctly or in the correct position.

 

Unfortunately, the history of this motor is a mystery to me. I'v only owned the car 2 mo., and I was hoping that the oil leak wasn't anything more than the seals - wrong.

The caps were in the proper location (#I6-I1 & -> towards TB), as you can see in the pic below scoring alternates between radiator side on I1, firewall side on I2 & I3, and back to radiator side on I5.

Now I'm curious. Is this due to an improper cam installation or torquing? A warped head or bad cam? Other?

 

could be lack of oil since it seems to get worse the further from the oil feed (#3 cam cap iirc?)

 

Looks straight up like oil starvation at some point.